The present invention relates to liquid soap dispensers. More specifically, the invention provides for dispensing concentrated liquid soaps for use in industrial cleaning apparatuses.
Liquid soaps used in industrial cleaning apparatuses, e.g., laundry machines, dishwashers, pot sinks, housekeeping applications, etc., are stored in containers in a concentrated form and are generally caustic in nature. Due to the concentrated form and caustic nature of these industrial cleaning soaps, it is undesirable for a person who is dispensing the concentrated soap into an industrial cleaning apparatus to come into contact with it in its concentrated form. Currently, these types of industrial cleaning soaps are stored in gallon containers, e.g., in either 5, 15 or 55 gallon drums.
Due to the caustic nature of the concentrated soaps and their storage in relatively large containers, soap dispensers are used to dispense the soaps for delivery to industrial cleaning apparatuses. Currently known methods for dispensing industrial soaps from their containers present drawbacks, including the use of complex pumping and/or mixing apparatuses that call be costly to procure and repair and difficult to operate.
An example of a currently known dispensing system employs a soap container that is placed in an upright position with a pump mechanism arranged to draw a suction on the container. With this system, soap is pumped from the container to the cleaning apparatus. A problem with these types of dispensing systems is that should the pumping mechanism become inoperative, the soap cannot be drawn from its container. Due to the caustic nature and concentrated form of the soap it is generally not recommended that a user manually pour the soap from the container to the cleaning apparatus in order to avoid spillage or over use.
Additional problems associated with the soap container being placed in an upright position is the effect on efficiency. Because the soap collects in the bottom of the container, it may be difficult to pump all of the soap from the container, leaving a significant portion of the soap unused.
Soap dispensers are also known for dispensing soap to industrial cleaning apparatuses where dry, particulate soap powders and solid detergents are stored in a container and a water spray is directed onto the powder or solid to liquefy the soap and provide the liquid soap to the cleaning device. However, these types of dispensers require an additional step of first liquefying the soap before it can be dispensed. Spray mechanisms, and controls for the spray mechanisms, are required for these types of dispensers, all of which add to the cost and complexity of these systems.
An additional problem associated with industrial soap dispensing systems is that the user is exposed to the caustic soap at some point during the dispensing process. Thus, the systems are not closed systems where the user is insulated from potential contact with the liquid soap. For example, the user may be required to open the soap container to place a pumping mechanism in the container and may be required to internally visually inspect the soap container to determine if any soap remains in the container. All of which exposes the user to the caustic liquid soap at some point during the dispensing process.
Hand-soap liquid dispensers that are used to dispense soap for cleaning a user's hands are also known in the art, however, these types of dispensers are not applicable for use in industrial cleaning apparatuses. These devices are designed for dispensing small quantities of soap directly to a user's hands and are not designed for dispensing concentrated soap fluid to industrial cleaning apparatuses.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide for a liquid soap dispenser that would allow for dispensing soap for use in industrial cleaning apparatuses without requiring complex pumping and/or spray mechanisms in order to dispense the soap from the container.